Wrapping Lessons, Wooing Strangers
by The Marauder Lady
Summary: MuggleAU Christmas 2015 In which Lily looses her cool and decides to give the clueless or not-so-clueless stranger with messy black hair a lesson on how to wrap gifts.


**Disclaimer: Look, let's just pretend, for a minute, that counters only meant for wrapping gifts do exist, especially during the christmas season.**

 **Also, I don't own anything except maybe the plot line. Everything else is JKR's.**

Lily Evans took a deep breath. She let her weight rest on her right leg, as she sagged to rest her elbow on the trolley and look around the shop. The shop was dressed in red, green and white. There was a huge Christmas tree in the front corner and every shelf was adorned with fairy lights. The air smelled of Christmas through and through which made her nervous system break down.

It was Christmas' Eve and Lily Evans had still not completed her Christmas shopping. Even a day before the festival, there were a ton of clothes, gifts and books to be bought on sale for various acquaintances, friends and family. And Lily Evans, believe it or not, was cracking under pressure. She couldn't decide what to gift her mother or what to not gift her friends. Moreover, Lily couldn't find a thing worthwhile to buy as the store was filled with all the procrastinators who had left their Christmas shopping to the eleventh hour.

So, Lily sighed again, straightened up and with a sudden spree of determination started looking around for all the potential gifts. Wading her way through the crowd, she was able to get her hands on a few flower vases, a few best-sellers, a few dresses, a few paint brushes, a few sweaters, a few chocolates and a few show pieces. They weren't the best possible gifts on Earth, but they could still work, she repeated to herself over and over again, trying to drive the guilt of procrastinating away from her.

After another quick round through the shop, she ran to the gift wrapping counter which was thankfully not brimming with people. It was quite abandoned with the exception of a gorgeous looking boy, hardly her age, dressed in a jumper and a Santa Clause cap.

"Hey! May I help you?" the boy cheerfully greeted her as she started to empty her shopping cart.

"Yes please. I want the sweaters and the books in red while everything else should be in green," she said as she kept the last item on the counter. "And please hurry. I have no time to waste."

The boy examined the heap of gifts Lily had emptied from her cart. "Umm… this _might_ take time, you know."

"Yes, I know, James," she said, spotting the name tag on his sweater, " But still, hurry up."

"Yes, ma'am," James grinned and got down to work. He took out a pair of scissors and duct tape from a drawer and unravelled a sheet of red and green wrapping paper.

Lily carefully watched him. She admired his dark, dishevelled hair and how it troubled his eyes. She couldn't help but swoon each time he straightened his glasses with a swift movement of his hand and how well his lanky form looked behind the counter and how cute the red Santa cap made him look. However, soon she realised what a nightmare he was living while wrapping a simple book with wrapping paper. Poor thing couldn't even fold paper without tearing it. He couldn't cut the tape or even handle it without dropping the book. The scissors, Lily noticed, was about to fall sharp end down on his foot when she intervened with impatience and snapped. "Are you new here or what? Can't you hurry up?"

James looked up with wide eyes, like a deer caught in headlights. "Um… sorry Miss –?"

Lily sighed and averted her eyes in guilt from his gorgeous brown ones. "Lily. Lily Evans."

"Sorry, Lily. This is actually my friend's shop and I just came here to help him today. Nobody here, as you can see, is free to do this menial work, so he made me do it. You'll have to bear with me, I guess," the boy said as he shrugged.

Lily nodded. She could see the hurt in his eyes but couldn't bring herself to apologise. "Let me teach you then."

"Hmm. Not a bad idea!"

Lily took the scissors from him and leafed out a fresh wrapping paper. She folded a sweater and placed it gingerly in the middle of the wrapping paper.

"So, we first take an edge of the paper," she said, not looking up at the boy in the Santa clause cap. "And manoeuvre it across the sweater or whatever item it is that you're wrapping."

She continued to show him the whole process, elaborating each movement and enjoying the smell of his cologne as he leaned forward to look at the manoeuvres more carefully. Lily passed him her scissors and asked him to try once himself as she wrapped another gift. Therefore, together they started wrapping gifts. Lily's looking professionally wrapped while James' looking a bit above average. Lily would nod in appreciation each time James would finish wrapping a gift. She smiled each time their hands brushed against each other's while passing the scissors. She laughed each time James got duct tape stuck either on his sweater or on his face or even once on Lily's hair.

Within fifteen minutes, the gift which would have taken a half hour to get wrapped got wrapped. They both high fived each other when James cut the ribbon around the last gift, finally ending the chaos of wrapping gifts.

"It wasn't as tough as it seemed," James said while grinning. "We make a good team, don't we?"

Lily laughed and nodded. "We do, indeed."

She started fumbling with the ribbon of a gift as she looked around the shop, thinking if she should apologise or just take the gifts and run for her life.

James noticing her anxiety leant over and whispered in her ear. "Your red blush goes really well with your hair, Lily. Don't let it go away, yes?"

Lily looked up with wide eyes at him and James couldn't help but snicker. He leant back and winked at her before giving her a blank receipt.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of the wrapping charges. After all it was you who wrapped most of it," he said as he straightened his glasses and looked away from her.

Lily blushed and nodded. "Thanks and sorry for the initial rudeness," she said, "Shopping does tend to get on my nerves."

"No problem, Miss. Evans," James grinned. "Hope to see you soon! Merry christmas!"

Lily smiled, mumbled back the greeting and dragged her cart, which was filled with wrapped gifts, to the other counter. She quickly paid and checked out, her heart beating faster than usual.

* * *

"Oi! Who is this for?" Marlene, Lily's roommate and best friend asked Lily from across the kitchen counter.

"I dunno. Must be marked there, check properly," Lily said. She was lying on the sofa, reading a magazine but not really letting the words sink in. All she had been thinking since the past morning was about the gift-wrapping boy. She couldn't get the image of his adorable smile and soot coloured, messy hair from her mind.

"There's no name on it, Lily," Marlene called out again. "I hope you didn't nick anybody else's gift, did you?"

Lily sighed in exasperation. "Of course I didn't! I'm not that careless, Marls."

She got up from the sofa as she couldn't bear to stay still for a long time. Lily couldn't bear to think that she would possibly not see the gift-wrapping gorgeous ever again. So, she got up and walked to the kitchen where Marlene was standing. "What do you want, woman?" she whined, annoyed with her life choices and friend.

"Whose is this?"

"Let me see."

Lily pulled open the ribbon and carefully unwrapped the gift, trying not to tear the paper.

The box was plain, made of cardboard and small with nothing written over it. She opened the box easily as nothing was sealing it. Inside it was a crumbled sheet of paper. On it, with blue ink was written:

 _69-15-432769_

 _Call me._

 _Love,_

 _James Potter._

* * *

 _A/N: Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year, people!_


End file.
